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Press Releases and News Stories
Ashburn Nonprofit To Stand Up To Cancer
By Erika Jacobson Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:59 AM EDT
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rasing awareness and money for brain tumor research, was invited to take part in the Stand Up To Cancer event in Hollywood Friday, Sept. 5. The group was invited as representatives of the brain tumor community and is recognized on the Stand Up To Cancer Web site for both its advocacy and its research funding.
Founder Lisa Millar sent in an application to the organizers of Stand Up To Cancer when she realized there were no organizations representing brain tumors.
"I did not think I would get picked because we're small, but they accepted us," Millar said.
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation is one of two organizations representing brain tumor organizations at the event.
The foundation has donated over $271,000 to major brain tumor centers for research toward a cure since its founding, and is the founder of the Grey Ribbon Crusade unification movement to join the entire brain tumor community under one "umbrella" to present a more solid presence in the general community.
"We hope to raise $1 million, that's my goal. I would like to do that before we hit 10 years," Millar said.
Millar created the foundation after her brother lost his battle with a brain tumor. Each year the foundation holds several fundraising event, including the annual Heroes of Hope Golf Tournament at the Lansdowne Resort.
Millar remains committed to her work on brain cancer research because brain tumors continue to be the leading cause of solid tumor death in children and the second leading cause of cancer death in young men under the age of 39. In addition, 20 percent of all other cancers will metastasize to the brain.
Stand Up To Cancer is a telethon-style event where ABC, NBC and CBS will air one uninterrupted hour where movie and television stars will join broadcast journalists to raise funds and awareness of all cancers.
"Their whole thing is to unify all cancer and together to put an end to them," Millar said.
During the event Millar will be a members of the audience, but earlier at a luncheon she will have the opportunity to share what the Brad Kaminsky Foundation is and the fund-raising it does.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit
www.standup2cancer.org. To learn more about the Brad Kaminsky Foundation, visit
www.tbkf.org.
Cancer Charity Reaches Milestone
MILLAR’S GOAL for the golf tournament was to raise more money than the $30,000 raised in 2006 and she met it easily.
"I knew we would be equal or better than that," she said. "It’s always really great. It’s a real gift to have such amazing people."
"People really are giving people," Carleigh Ghent, who helped Millar organize this year's event, said. "People are really excited about helping."
With each golfer paying $190 to participate, silent auction items ranging from $10 to several hundred and cancer awareness items available for $5 to $15, attendees could give as much or as little as they wished.
"It’s just bigger and better every year, MaryJo Robinson, volunteer coordinator for the event, said. "Every year there is a greater response from the community."
THIS YEAR’S EVENT had a special section set up to benefit 22-month-old Taylor Love of Ashburn, who is suffering from neuroblastoma, a cancer that occurs in the sympathetic nervous system.
When Taylor was diagnosed, Lara Bryson and Jennifer Hubacker, family friends who designed jewelry, stepped up to create a special bracelet for Taylor.
"Instead of just copying one of the breast cancer awareness styles, we wanted to tailor something special to Taylor," Bryson said.
According to the women, the bracelets are made with blue sapphire crystals to "match Taylor's eyes," green crystals "to represent hope in renewed life and tranquillity," gold beads "representing awareness of childhood cancers" and crystal beads "to represent God's righteousness and mercy surrounding Taylor." Some bracelets are available with Taylor's name spelled out.
Since Taylor’s diagnosis at 18 months old, the two have been selling the bracelets to raise money for Taylor’s treatment. Before the tournament began a table was set up for the two women to sell their bracelets and a section of the silent auction was set aside as "Taylor's Corner."
All of the money raised in the special section will go specifically to Taylor’s treatment.
"Lisa came up with the idea of having a spot in the silent auction for her," Bryson said. "Which is great."
JUST LIKE the years before, Millar ended the evening by reading those people who had died from brain tumors and who had people playing in their memory.
"I promised my brother I would never stop fighting until there was a cure," she said.
For more information on The Brad Kaminsky Foundation visit www.tbkf.org or email Lisa Millar at DNL1231@aol.com.
About Brad's Journey
Brad's Journey
DA's Office Mourns Passing Of Co-Worker
By: LAURIE MASON Bucks County Courier Times
Despite undergoing an operation to
remove a brain tumor, assistant DA Brad Kaminsky returned to the district
attorney's office. Co-workers said
he fought the disease bravely. A memorial service will be held today for
Brad Kaminsky, a 29-year-old
assistant district attorney who passed away on Saturday. Kaminsky, a father
of two from Bensalem, was
diagnosed with brain cancer in July 1999. He learned he had the disease
after he suffered a seizure while
riding in his car. Although at the time doctors gave Kaminsky only a few
weeks to live, he bounced back and
returned to work at the district attorney's office in Doylestown less than a
year later. Even as the disease
progressed, Kaminsky continued to work from home when he was too ill from
radiation treatments to get to the
courthouse. Bucks County Judge Alan Rubenstein, who hired Kaminsky in 1997,
said he admired the young
lawyer's gusto. "When I was DA, I always looked for aggressive lawyers who
enjoyed wearing the white hat.
Brad fulfilled my every expectation," he said. Rubenstein said Kaminsky's
fighting spirit was especially evident
when he returned to work after doctors removed a large brain tumor. Although
the cancer affected his balance
and Kaminsky was forced to walk with a cane, he couldn't wait to get back
into court. On one of his first forays
into the courtroom after brain surgery, Kaminsky appeared before Rubenstein
in a domestic assault hearing. "I
was pretty nervous, but Brad did fine. Afterwards I saw him outside the
courtroom and I hurried over to ask him
how he was feeling. Before I got out the words he asked me if I was OK. That
was the way he was - upbeat. He
never felt sorry for himself." District Attorney Diane Gibbons echoed
Rubenstein's words. "He was such a hard
worker. He would tackle any case we gave him head first. He was a fighter.
The whole staff was so thrilled to
have a lawyer like him working in the office," Gibbons said. "And he kept
that fighting spirit right up until the end.
We were all so proud of him." The service will be held at 10 a.m. today at
Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael
Sacks Suburban North Funeral Home at 310 Second Street Pike in Upper
Southampton. Burial services will be
at Shalom Memorial Park in Philadelphia. In lieu of flowers, the Kaminsky
family has asked that donations be
made to The Brad Kaminsky Foundation for Brain Tumor Research, 2578
Barnsleigh Drive, Bensalem, PA
19020.
Courting A Miracle
By LAURIE MASON Bucks County Courier Times
In July, doctors told prosecutor Brad Kaminsky
that he'd never walk again because
of the tumor they found in his brain. Yesterday, Kaminsky was back in the
courtroom.
Brad Kaminsky can now
cross off one goal on the long wishlist he made after being diagnosed with
brain cancer. Yesterday, less than
nine months after doctors discovered a large tumor in his brain, the
28-year-old assistant Bucks County district
attorney walked through the doors of a courtroom and argued a case. It was a
brief appearance - less than 10
minutes in front of Bucks County Judge Alan Rubenstein on a simple family
court matter - but Kaminsky
beamed with pride afterward like he'd just won a huge verdict. "That was
great," he said on the way back to his
office at the county courthouse in Doylestown Borough. "I feel great." No
small words for a man who's been
through what Kaminsky has this year. In July, he was driving home from a
restaurant with his family when he
suffered a seizure. The car, with his two young children inside, swerved all
over the road and nearly hit a tree.
Kaminsky awoke in a hospital, and doctors told him the news: a CAT scan
showed a dark spot on his brain.
Cancer. Kaminsky, of Bensalem, was taken to a Philadelphia hospital where
doctors removed 40 percent of
the growth. They couldn't cut out any more of the tumor because it had
tendril-like protrusions that wrapped
around parts of his brain like webbing, they said. He underwent four weeks
of radiation treatment to shrink the
rest of the tumor. But when doctors looked at it again it had doubled in
size. It was Stage 4 cancer, the worst
you can have. Kaminsky was given six to 18 months to live. "I found that
unacceptable," he said yesterday. "I
told the doctors that they were only human, they didn't have the power to
tell me when I was going to die. I didn't
like their pessimism." Like the tough prosecutor he is, Kaminsky demanded an
alternative. His family sought
help from national cancer prevention groups, and got a list of 57 treatment
programs all over the country.
Kaminsky said he awoke from a dream about the number eight that night, and
called his dad to tell him to book
him in that program on the list. No. 8 was at Duke University in North
Carolina, a procedure called monoclonal
antibodies. Doctors take mouse cells that have been cloned, attach
radioactive antibodies and shoot the stuff
into the cancer cell. Because the treatment literally makes patients
radioactive, Kaminsky had to stay isolated in
a lead-lined room in the hospital for six days after the treatment. "That
was the hardest part for me, being alone
and not being able to move around," he said. There is no way to immediately
tell if the treatment is working, but
Kaminsky has been seizure-free for six months. There have been other small
victories, what Kaminsky calls his
own "little miracles." After his first of three brain surgeries, doctors
told him he'd never walk again, he'd be
paralyzed on one side, his face would droop like a stroke victim's, his eye
and mouth would drop and he'd
drool. But Kaminsky is already walking with a cane. A wheelchair that his
insurance company sent to his office
in anticipation of his return to work sits unused. In about three weeks
he'll be driving his car again, as soon as
it's outfitted with a specially designed steering wheel and turn signal. His
face has not drooped, and although
his speech is slightly slurred, he's able to talk on the phone and converse
with crime victims who come to his
office. His boss, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons, already has
loaded him down with work, as
evidenced by a stack of complaints on his desk yesterday. He attributes his
nearly miraculous recovery to the
power of God, and to his own never-say-die attitude. "I told the doctors,
'My name is Kaminsky, with a 'y.' Get it
right when you write about me for the medical journals," he joked. Kaminsky
says he plans to keep getting
stronger, and vows to fight the cancer until it's 100 percent gone. The next
goal on his wishlist is to argue a case
before a jury at a trial. Two other goals - to dance at the weddings of his
6-year-old daughter and son, 2. "I will
do this. Just wait and see," he said. Still, Kaminsky said he knows he has a
tough road ahead of him, and there
have been some personal setbacks in his life. He and his wife of eight years
recently separated, an event he
attributes to the stress of fighting cancer. He's racked up $150,000 in
medical bills, and he must continue the
treatments at Duke every six weeks for the next one to five years. Each
treatment costs $12,000, not counting
travel expenses. His family has helped, and friends and co-workers have
raised thousands of dollars through
benefits and fund-raisers. Another fund-raiser is planned for March 31 -
Kaminsky's 29th birthday - at the
Eddington Room in Bensalem. Having cancer, Kaminsky said, has changed his
whole outlook on life. He's
become more spiritual, and has grown to appreciate the people in his life
more. He knows he's lucky to still
have the job at the district attorney's office, where he's worked for more
than two years. He called his former
boss, Alan Rubenstein "the greatest man I ever met." Rubenstein, while
district attorney, arranged for Kaminsky
to do some of his work from home and from his hospital bed and gave him a
laptop computer to make the job
easier. Gibbons, who took over for Rubenstein when he became a judge in
January, also allows Kaminsky to
work a flexible schedule. The support from his co-workers has made all the
difference, Kaminsky said. "It's
overwhelming, how many people came forward to help me. In my job prosecuting
criminals, you usually don't get
to see that side of people."
Cancer-Stricken Jurist Gets Help From Friends
By LAURIE MASON Courier Times
More than 400 lawyers, judges and
police officers turned out Friday to support Brad Kaminsky, a Bucks
prosecutor fighting brain cancer. As an assistant district attorney, Brad
Kaminsky
has spent most of his career fighting to put criminals behind bars. Now he's
fighting for his life.
Kaminsky, 28, has brain cancer. It was discovered in July when, without
warning, he went into a seizure while driving home from having lunch with his
wife. He's had three painful surgeries to remove tumors and is undergoing
experimental radiation treatment at a North Carolina research hospital. Kaminsky's
trying to be brave, his family said, although he knows he has a tough battle
ahead of him. But his friends and co-workers aren't letting him fight the
battle alone. As word spread about Kaminsky's illness, the legal community
rallied to his side. At a fund-raising dance Friday night in Wycombe, nearly 400
lawyers, judges, police officers, courthouse staff and family members gathered
to raise money and support for Kaminsky and his family. It was a night of
music and fun as partygoers cut a rug to the sounds of The New Society
Orchestra, an eight-piece top 40s band featuring Gail Marr, an assistant Bucks
district attorney, and John Fioravanti, a Doylestown defense attorney. Among the
revelers seen mingling in the crowded Fraternal Order of Police lodge were Bucks
County Judges Cynthia and John Rufe, Bucks County District Attorney Alan
Rubenstein and Democratic Commissioners candidate Chris Serpico. Although
Kaminsky couldn't attend, he sent a note of thanks with his wife, Kim. "He knows
he's going to beat this cancer, and he can't wait to get back home," she said.
Kaminsky grew up in Bensalem and graduated from Bensalem High School in 1989.
He has two children, ages 5 and 2. Although he's been able to keep his job -
and his medical insurance - by working from home and the hospital, doing
research and writing legal briefs, the family's financial future is uncertain.
Besides medical expenses not covered by insurance, Kaminsky must deal with
costly travel expenses and phone bills, and his wife was forced to quit her
part-time job at Doylestown hospital to help care for Kaminsky and their
children. "I talk to him on the phone about 10 times a day," she said. "We
don't feel like we're alone in this because his boss and everyone at the
office has been so good to us."
Kaminsky's boss, Alan Rubenstein, put the praise back on Kaminsky. "Brad is
a bright, aggressive lawyer who has shown great talent and integrity on the
job," he said. "As an office, we hope our support helps him some way in his
recovery, and we want him to know that he still has a job when he recovers." Kim
Kaminsky said Rubenstein gave her husband his personal laptop computer so he
could send information into the office. When a document can't be faxed and
she can't leave the kids to bring it to Doylestown, Rubenstein sends someone
to pick it up. And Kaminsky's co-workers have been "outstanding," she said.
Along with planning the fund-raiser, prosecutors set up a bank account for
donations. Among the contributors last night were the Bucks County Chiefs of
Police Association with a $1,000 check and the Bensalem Police Benevolent
Association, which donated $2,000. Others found more creative ways to raise cash.
Assistant
district attorney Sharif Abaza, Kaminsky's office-mate, announced he would
allow the highest bidder give him
a crew-cut. With a room full of defense attorneys no doubt eager to take a
razor to the prosecutor's head,
the bidding quickly climbed to $250. But in a shocking turn of events,
Abaza's own mother, Ann Abaza, trounced the competition with a bid of $325. "My
own mother?" Abaza whined upon hearing auctioneer Gary Gambardella, a senior
deputy district attorney, announce the winner. So far, about $10,000 has been
raised to help Kaminsky. Rubenstein said it's a worthy cause. "But for the
grace of God, any one of us could be in Brad's situation," he said. "I think
everyone in this room recognizes that."
New FDA Approved Treatments For Brain Tumors
FDA Approves Expanded Use of Gliadel® Wafer During Intial Surgery for Primary Malignant Brain Cancer
BALTIMORE, Md., Feb. 26, 2003
Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:GLFD)
announced today that the
Company's marketed product, GLIADEL® Wafer (polifeprosan 20 with carmustine
implant), has received
approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use
in newly diagnosed patients with
high-grade malignant glioma as an adjunct to surgery and radiation. "This
brings new hope to seriously ill
patients with brain cancer by approving the use of the first localized
chemotherapy in initial therapy of
high-grade malignant brain cancer," commented Henry Friedman, M.D., the
James B. Powell, Jr. Professor of
Neuro-Oncology, and Co-Director of The Brain Tumor Center at Duke
University. "Clinical trial results relating to
treatment with GLIADEL® Wafer at the time of initial surgery are clinically
meaningful and statistically
significant. I believe that findings such as these will prompt physicians to
incorporate this therapy in conjunction
with surgery, radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy for the treatment of
brain cancer." "Guilford is proud of
its commitment to develop new, innovative therapies, such as GLIADEL® Wafer,
that have a significant impact
on the lives of patients," commented Craig R. Smith, M.D., Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer. "Each year in
the United States there are approximately 11,000 surgeries performed to
treat malignant brain cancer. Prior to
this approval, only those patients who suffered recurrence of glioblastoma
multiforme and required a second
surgery could benefit from treatment with GLIADEL® Wafer. With an expanded
label indication that provides for
administration of GLIADEL® Wafer at the time of initial surgery, followed by
radiation, the benefits of
GLIADEL® Wafer will now be available to a broader number of patients." "We
intend to initiate a new product
launch in the United States to raise awareness among neurosurgeons,
neuro-oncologists and patients of the
benefits associated with GLIADEL® Wafer during initial surgery," Dr. Smith
continued. "Over the coming
weeks, we also intend to resubmit our European regulatory application for
GLIADEL® Wafer seeking approval
for use in initial surgery in Europe so that we can offer the benefits of
GLIADEL® Wafer to an even larger
population." Clinical Program Background A Phase III double blind,
placebo-controlled clinical study of
GLIADEL® Wafer was conducted at 38 centers in 14 countries. A total of 240
adult men and women
undergoing initial surgical resection of a high-grade malignant glioma were
enrolled and randomly assigned to
receive implantation of either GLIADEL® Wafers or placebo wafers into the
resection cavity followed about two
weeks later by radiation therapy. The primary end-point for the trial was
survival. Long-Term Survival Results
Complete follow up for as long as 48 months was obtained for 239 of the 240
patients. Of the 11 patients
known to be alive on the date of last follow up, 9 received GLIADEL® Wafer
and 2 received placebo. Survival
was prolonged in the GLIADEL® Wafer treatment group (median survival
increased to 13.9 months from 11.6
months, p<0.05). The overall risk of dying during 3-4 years after treatment
was reduced in the GLIADEL®
Wafer treatment group, as reflected by a hazard ratio of 0.73 (95% CI:
0.56-0.95; p<0.05). Safety Information
Patients undergoing craniotomy for malignant glioma and implantation of
GLIADEL® Wafer should be
monitored closely for known complications of craniotomy, including seizures,
intracranial infections, abnormal
wound healing, and brain edema. Cases of intracerebral mass effect
unresponsive to corticosteroids have
been described in patients treated with GLIADEL® Wafer, including one case
leading to brain herniation.
GLIADEL® Wafer contains carmustine and should not be given to patients who
are allergic to carmustine.
Carmustine can also cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman.
About GLIADEL® Wafer
GLIADEL® Wafer is the only marketed cancer treatment capable of delivering
chemotherapy directly to the site
of a brain cancer, bypassing the blood-brain barrier and minimizing drug
exposure to other areas of the body.
GLIADEL® Wafer is a small, white to off-white dime-sized wafer comprised of
a biodegradable polymer
(polifeprosan 20) incorporating 7.7 mg. of carmustine (BCNU), a
chemotherapeutic agent usually administered
intravenously to treat a malignant glioma. Up to eight GLIADEL® Wafers can
be implanted in the cavity created
when a surgeon removes a brain tumor. There, they slowly dissolve, releasing
BCNU directly to the tumor site in
high concentrations, while minimizing drug exposure to other areas of the
body. Additional information on
GLIADEL® Wafer is available at . About Guilford Guilford Pharmaceuticals
Inc. is a fully integrated
pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets novel
pharmaceutical products targeting the
hospital and neurological markets. This press release contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, including those described in the section entitled "Risk
Factors" contained in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 26, 2002, that could
cause the Company's actual
results and experience to differ materially from anticipated results and
expectations expressed in these
forward-looking statements. Among other things, there can be no assurance
that label expansion for
GLIADEL(R) Wafer will result in physicians incorporating this therapy into
their standard of practice, or that the
Company's sales of the product will increase. Contact: Guilford
Pharmaceuticals Inc. Stacey Jurchison
410.631.5022 Guilford Pharmaceuticals internet addresses:
FDA APPROVES NEW DRUG FOR BRAIN CANCER
FDA has approved temozolomide, a cancer
treatment for adult patients
diagnosed with a form of brain cancer -- anaplastic astrocytoma -- who have
relapsed following chemotherapy
including a nitrosourea drug (carmustine or lomustine) and procarbazine. The
following may be used to respond
to questions. Approximately 18,000 new cases of primary intracranial (brain)
cancer are diagnosed each year
in the U.S. This represents about 2 percent of all adult cancers. More than
50 percent of these are high-grade
gliomas (i.e. glioblastoma multiform and anaplastic astrocytoma tumors).
Patients with these tumors often suffer
from severe disabilities such as motor dysfunction, seizures, and vision
abnormalities. The approval of
temozolomide gives patients another option for treatment of their disease
when they do not respond to initial
treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. Temozolomide has been granted
accelerated approval - a
regulatory mechanism that allows early approval for a product for the
treatment of serious or life-threatening
conditions for which no acceptable alternative treatments exist or which
provide a meaningful therapeutic
benefit over existing treatments. Accelerated approval is based on surrogate
markers of effectiveness such as
shrinkage of a tumor rather than a documented effect on clinical benefit
such as survival or quality of life.
Temozolomide's approval was supported by a single arm multi-center trial in
l62 patients who had anaplastic
astrocytoma at first relapse and who had received previous radiation therapy
and may also have received
chemotherapy. In the patients with tumors resistant to previous chemotherapy
with a nitrosourea and
procarbazine, seven (7) out of 54 patients (13 percent) had partial
shrinkage of their tumors while nine percent
or 5 out of 54 patients had a complete response. Side effects reported
include headaches, nausea, vomiting,
fatigue and low blood counts. Patients with severe vomiting may require
antiemetic therapy before or during
temozolomide treatment. FDA's approval follows the recommendation of the
Oncologic Drugs Advisory
Committee for accelerated approval of temozolomide to treat patients with
anaplastic astrocytoma tumors.
Temozolomide was granted orphan drug status in 1998. Orphan status provides
incentives to companies to
develop products for use in small patient populations. The drug will be
marketed under the name Temodar. As
a condition of approval, the manufacturer, Schering-Plough Corp, Madison New
Jersey will conduct a
randomized trial to evaluate clinical benefit.
Foundation News
Would you give up a day of profit to help find a cure for cancer?
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation for Brain
Tumor Research teamed up with the Eclips salon in the Ashburn Village
Shopping Center to fund a cure for
brain tumors, by hosting a "Cut-a-Thon" on Sunday, October 24, 2004. The
talented team at Eclips provided
haircuts, facials, manicures, massages and pedicures and donated all the
costs to brain tumor research. The
stylists even gave up all tips and asked that customers use them to buy
raffle tickets or donate them to the
Kaminsky Foundation for brain tumor research. The event raised over $5,000.
There were over one hundred
new and regular clients who stopped in to support the event. After an Eclips
staff member was diagnosed with
brain cancer, the salon realized what an important cause this is, and how
much research is still needed to find
effective treatments and ultimately a cure. The Kaminsky Foundation was
started in 2000 after Brad Kaminsky,
an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia, PA, was diagnosed at age 28
with a malignant brain tumor. After
Brad's passing in 2001, his sister, Lisa Kaminsky-Millar, of Ashburn, VA
lovingly carried on the foundation. "It
was an incredible honor to work with the talented and generous staff at
Eclips in Ashburn. I was touched so
deeply by all the people who came out to support the cause and moved beyond
words that a business and all of
its employees would donate their time and money to help find a cure for
cancer. It was amazing to see these
professionals working so hard and giving up their personal income in the
name of cancer research. Imagine
how much money would be raised if every company gave one day to a cause."
Millar said. Mrs. Pennsylvania
International, 2004, Allison Hirschmann was also on site. She helped sell
the Kaminsky Foundation's Cooking
up a CURE cookbooks while giving out autographs to excited little girls.
Hirschmann is the official
spokesperson for the Kaminsky foundation, as her platform is cancer
awareness. The Kaminsky Foundation
has raised over $115,000 for brain tumor research through golf tournaments,
silent auctions, and their Cooking
up a CURE cookbook, now in its fourth volume. The foundation has donated all
of the funds to major brain tumor
research hospitals such as Duke University's brain tumor center. According
to the Pediatric Brain Tumor
Foundation and American Cancer Society statistics, brain tumors are the most
deadly of all childhood cancers
and the leading cause of cancer death in men ages 20-39. To find out more
about the Brad Kaminsky
Foundation for Brain Tumor Research, call 1-866-484 CURE (2873) or go to .
More information about Eclips
Salon can be found at or by calling 703-858-7555.
Allison Hirschmann is Foundation's National Spokesperson
Allisaon Hirschmann was crowned Mrs. Pennsylvania
International 2004. Allisons platform is cancer awareness and she has signed
on as our National
Spokesperson! She appeared with Foundation President, Lisa Kaminsky-Millar
on Philadelphia's Channel 48
Update on May 22, 2004 at 7:00pm to discuss the need for awareness and
funding. Also on the segment were
Vice Chairman of the North American Brain Tumor Coalition, Paul McKay, Dr.
Kevin Judy, Associate Professor
and Staci Oppleman, Patient Care Manager both of the University of
Pennsylvania Medical Center, Department
of Neurosurgery.
Billboard as it appears on Cottman Ave, in Phila, Pa.
Cooking Up a Cure Cooking Up a Cure...For Brain Tumors
Cookbook will raise funds for cancer research
Cooking Up a Cure Cooking Up a
Cure...For Brain Tumors was created and put together with great love from
two people who want the same
thing: A cure for brain tumors.
Lisa Gibson, a GBM 4 survivor (one year January 12, 2002), feels this
cookbook was her calling—what God
wanted her to do for others—to give back, as so much was given to her. For
Lisa Millar, it is a mission. She lost
her younger brother, Brad, to a brain tumor at only 29. Brad was far too
young to die. He was a loving father with
two small children. Lisa is carrying on her brother's desperate desire for a
cure, in loving memory of Brad, and
for everyone suffering from a brain tumor. Gibson and Millar send thanks to
the brain tumor community (family,
friends, doctors, nurses, researchers) who graciously shared their special
recipes and very special dedications
to make over 300 recipes possible. One hundred percent of the proceeds for
this cookbook go to brain tumor
research
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation "Heroes of Hope" Golf Tournament
Held: Saturday, April 22, 2006
Tournament Results And Pictures The Fifth Annual "Heroes of Hope" Golf
Tournament on Saturday, April 22,
2006, held at the Lansdowne Golf Resort, raised $30,000 for brain tumor
research. $30,000 was donated to
Dr. Gary Archer of Duke's Brain Tumor Center the evening of the event. We
would like to thank all of our
players, sponsors, donors and volunteers for making another great event!
Together we will find the CURE!!
Play Golf & Shop For A Cure
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation for Brain Tumor Research, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for brain tumor research, is hosting a day of fun-filled activities during its Third Annual Heroes Hope Golf Toumament at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg on April 17 as an early kickoff to Brain Tumor Awareness Week May 29.
Golfers will be able to try their hand at tournament play beginning with a shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. and contests including two hole-in-one chances to win a new car, compliments of Select Auto Imports of AIexandria and Hertz Car Sales and a chance to round up the clay's golfing with dinner at 7:00 pm for a cost of $50.
While the golfers play the course, children will be able to enjoy the carnival atmosphere of Play and Shop for a CURE, which will feature classic carnival games and activities for children from 4 to 6p.m.
From 4:30 to 7 pm., adults will be able to browse the displays of home-based business women from Pampered Chef, Longaberger baskets, Usboume Books, Southern Living, Premier Jewelry, Silpada Jewelry, Tastefully Simple, Discovery Toys and "Faux the Fun" of it. Participating businesses will showcase their products and donate a portion of sales to brain tumor research.
The day's events will dose with a silent auction after dinner along with a special children's section of the auction that will directly fund pediatric brain tumor research.
"Since there is no registration or fee to participate in the Play or Shop for a CURE, we ask for a nominal $5 donation per person", said Lisa Millar, the organization's founder. Donations will directly fund brain tumor research. Last year the group was able to raise more than $25,000, which was presented to Duke University's Brain Tumor Center.
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation for Brain Tumor Research was started in 2000 when Ashburn Village resident, Lisa Millar's brother Brad Kaminsky was diagnosed with a glioblastoma mulliforme brain tumor. Kamiasky died in 2001 at the age of 29.
According to the American Cancer Society, brain tumors are now the leading cause of death among persons up to 19 years old as well as the leading cause of cancer-related death in males ages 20 to 39 and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death in women of this age group.
This day is dedicated to all those battling a brain tumor and to raising hope that a cure will be found as well as to the memory of all those who have passed away from a brain tumor, said Millar.
This year's tournament has been dedicated to the memory of foundation co-founder Lisa Gibson of Springfield, who died last year from a brain tumor, as well as McLean resident Bob Carter Jr. and Falls Church resident Tony Leonard. Both men died last year from a glioblastoma muliforme brain tumor. Glioblastoina multiforme, the most aggressive of malignant brain tumors, accounts for 23 percent of all tumors and the prognosis is very poor with the average survival time being 12 to I8 months after diagnosis.
"I hope people will realize how lethal this disease is and how much research is needed find effective treatments and ultimately a cure, Millar said.
Registration is required for the dinner and the cost of attending is $50.
As the country's eyes turned to the fight against cancer this week, one Ashburn nonprofit found themselves in the center of the action.
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation hosts sixth annual Heroes of Hope Golf Tournament.
By
Erika Jacobson Connection Newspapers May 2, 2007
Saturday night was a big night for The Brad Kaminsky Foundation.
With the presentation of a $32,000 check, the foundation crossed the quarter of a million mark in money raised for cancer research.
"That’s really an amazing thing," Lisa Millar, founder of the foundation, said. "It’s huge."
More than 140 golfers came out to the Lansdowne Resort to participate in The Brad Kaminsky Foundation’s sixth annual Heroes of Hope golf tournament Saturday, April 28, to raise money for Duke University’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
Millar’s brother, Brad Kaminsky, died Feb. 10, 2001, from a brain tumor. Millar started the foundation in his memory and is determined to help find a cure for brain cancer.
"I felt I needed to bring a change," she said. "And that change is helping to find a cure for this disease. The most deadly cancer for children and men under the age of 39."
"Miracles are being performed every day," Jennifer Alves, a 26-year brain cancer survivor who was diagnosed when she was 7 months old, said. "That’s what we are here to support."
MANY OF THE people in attendance Saturday night were there because of a loved one fighting a brain tumor or who had died from the cancer. Manassas resident Kelly Kuhn was playing for his friend Bob Carte Jr. Robinson became involved because of her own struggle with Hodgkin's disease. Brian Burns, the owner of Visual Ventures Videography, one of the sponsors of the event, was there because of his friend Lisa Lewis-Gibson, who helped start the tournament.
"This is a great cause to get involved in," Burns said. "I wanted to help raise money to fund cancer research."
"I think this type of event has a lot of personal connection," Robinson said. "Unfortunately."
So, surrounded by family, friends and people who have seen their own family and friends affected by brain tumors, Millar and her father, Alan Kaminsky, presented Dr. Gary Archer, assistant research professor at Duke University, with a check for $30,000 Saturday night.
The money raised will go into a general fund, to be used where it is needed at the university.
"Our grants are being cut," Archer said. "When we fall short, these kinds of funds can fill in with what we need. Clinical research is very expensive."
"Duke is doing a lot of great things and it’s up to us to keep that momentum going," Millar said.
![[The Brad Kaminsky Foundation]](connect2.jpg)
Photo by Erika Jacobson/The Connection
Taylor Love, 22 months,
of Ashburn, is this year's
honored patient.
New FDA Approved Treatments For Brain Tumors
Foundation News
With the help of Clear Channel Outdoor
Media, the foundation posted six billboards across Philadelphia and the
surrounding vicinity to raise awareness
of brain tumors. The billboards will continue to go up at a rate of one a
month until the end of the year. The
Foundation's "Cooking up a Cure" Cookbook, advertised on the colorful
billboards that will dot Pennsylvania
over the next six months, has raised over $25,000 for brain tumor research
at major brain tumor centers such as
Duke University Hospital and The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The cookbook, now in its fourth
printing, contains hundreds of recipes donated by people affected by cancer.
The fourth volume, currently in
progress, will also contain recipes donated by restaurants and chefs as well
as people affected with cancer all
across the United States. The billboards were conceived by Lisa
Kaminsky-Millar and freelance writer Melinda
Vickerman-Lalaoui. Both women lost their brothers to a glioblastoma brain
tumor. Vickerman-Lalaoui's brother,
Rob Vickerman, of Queens, New York died in August of 2002 at the age of 35.
Both women, who have yet to
meet face to face, connected through an Internet support group for brain
tumor patients and their caregivers."
We share the loss of our brothers as well as a real need to contribute
something positive to others living with
this disease," Vickerman-Lalaoui.
The Brad Kaminsky Foundation
for Brain Tumor Research
20227 Catlett Place
Ashburn, VA 20147
(703) 729-9897
E-mail
DNL1231@aol.com
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